After poor showings on defense, Carlisle hints that changes are being considered

Dallas Morning News | Jan 30

It was clear coach Rick Carlisle was unhappy with the effort level and the concentration level after the poor defensive showing in the 117-115 loss to Houston Wednesday.
On Thursday, he still wasn’t in a sugarcoating mood. In fact, he said changes are being considered while defense was a major focus at practice.
“Everything’s in play, yeah, no question about it,” he said. “We got a lot of guys who are ready. We’ll keep looking at it every day. Our guys who haven’t played much practiced well today and I’m certain that they’re ready to go if needed. We’ll see where we are when the game starts tomorrow night.”
As for what needs to happen defensively, he said: “We got to do a better job with our stance, moving our feet, getting our body position right, and our early help guys have got to show more help. When players in this league see big gaps, they put their head down and drive it and they look for the official to blow the whistle. So it’s got to be a better effort collectively.”
Meanwhile, Shawn Marion sat out practice Thursday and Carlisle said the starter at small forward will be listed as day to day as he continues to work through a shoulder injury suffered two weeks ago. Marion rode the stationary bike and has been icing the shoulder before games.